The descendants of Irish people sold into slavery in the 1600s live in a close-knit community beset by poverty and ill health.

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During the winter of 1636, a ship bearing a consignment of 61 men and women destined to be slaves on the plantations of Barbados slipped

quietly out of Kinsale Harbor on Ireland’s rugged southern coast. By the time Captain Joseph West’s ship arrived in the Caribbean in January 1637, eight of the 61 had died. The remainder were sold, including ten to the governor of Barbados, for 450 pounds of sugar apiece. Captain West was instructed to return to London to sell the sugar and then proceed to Kinsale to procure another cargo of Irish slaves. That first small trickle soon became a human flood.

It was a lucrative business. An Irish white slave could be sold in Barbados for between £10 and £35.

In all, more than 50,000 Irish were transported from Ireland to Barbados (more were sent to other islands in the West Indies), many of them prisoners captured by Oliver Cromwell during the wars in Ireland and Scotland and following the Monmouth Rebellion. The slaves became known as Redlegs, almost certainly a reference to the sunburn they picked up in the hot tropical sun.

By the mid-1700s most were free, their places taken by Africans. However, minute books from the island show that no more than a fifth of those who were freed became farmers, owners, or artisans. The remainder formed a wretched, poor and isolated community. In 1689, the governor of Barbados, Colonel James Kendall, described the Redlegs as being “dominated over and used like dogs.” He suggested to the local assembly that the emancipated slaves be given two acres (0.8 hectares) of land, as was their due, but the assembly contemptuously turned down the request.

Today, the few hundred remaining Redlegs in Barbados, also known as the Baccra, a name they were given as they were only allowed to sit in the back row at church, stand out as anomalies in a predominantly black population, struggling for survival in a society that has no niche for them, looked down upon by both blacks and better-off whites.

Ann Banfield proudly shows me the photograph of her grand daughter’s graduation. She is shown with her husband Herbert and their grand daughter who is currently studying for a Masters in law. Their grand daughter is the first to have gone to university from that community in Martins Bay on the wild east coast of Barbados where the Atlantic pounds the shore. Ann worked in Bridgetown for many years including 13 years for Cave Sheppard, a large department store in town.

Making Contact

There is a strong sense of community among the Redlegs. “If I need to eat, I go next door, and if they need to eat, they come to me,” 86-year-old Eustace Norris, who spent 30 years working in a factory in England before returning to Barbados, told me. And they are an insular community.

Despite having lived in Barbados for a number of years, I had only glimpsed these conspicuously poor, bare-footed individuals hauling coconuts up the hill in the New Castle district of Saint John Parish on the east coast of Barbados.

In order to get to know them better, I spent time with them in 2000 and again in 2008 and 2014. They were initially suspicious of me, but the fact that I had worked in the area helped to break the ice. And as one of them exclaimed, “Ah, that makes you Bajan.”

The Redlegs have retained a racial pride and a degree of aloofness from their black neighbors, mostly marrying within their own community. They do not know much about Ireland except that some of their ancestors came from there. Though one man I met, Wilson Norris, is passionate about Irish music and has a collection of CDs, these people are poor and their main concentration is on survival, not the past.

Ill health, inadequate housing, little ownership of land to produce their own food, and a lack of job opportunities have locked the community into a poverty trap that has hardly improved in the last century. Poor diet and a lack of dental care have left most of the older generation with either bad teeth or no teeth at all, and young people who don’t realize that this is preventable. Illnesses and premature deaths caused by blood diseases such as haemophilia (probably as a result of inbreeding) and diabetes have had a devastating effect on the community.

Wilson Norris sorting eggs.

When I first visited Erlene Downie in 2000, she had been living alone for 33 years, following the death of her husband from leukemia. Her home had neither electricity nor running water, which she had to carry from a standpipe. Once a week, she boiled some water on a fire outside so that she could wash. To earn money, she collected coconuts, splitting them with a pick-axe and supplying the husks to a local nursery for orchid cultivation.

In 2008, I found Erlene, then 78 years old, still smiling, but living in even worse conditions. She had moved onto a plot beside her daughter’s house, where she lived in a wooden shack, again without running water, proper sanitation, or electricity. To make matters worse, she was sharing the tiny space with a nephew and her youngest son, who is a haemophiliac.

In 2000, I visited 78-year-old bachelor Chris Watson, who spent his whole life as a fisherman. The tropical sun had taken its toll on his fair skin, and his face was half destroyed by skin cancer left untreated for too long. Although he was living in appalling conditions, lying on a dirty mattress in a room bare of any other furniture, his wooden house was perched high on a hill with a breath-taking view of the wild Atlantic coast. I learned that Chris died soon after my visit.

I also spent time with Wilson and Louise Yearwood in 2000. They were living comfortably in a small, government-supplied wooden house. However, Wilson was unable to work as a result of operations for an ulcerated stomach and a hernia, and there was little money for basic necessities. I was glad to see them both again in 2008, but it was a great shock to discover that a house built for two was now housing their daughter, her boyfriend, and three small children. The young family shared the front room with a section partitioned for an adult bed. Wilson and Louise now used the kitchen as their main room with a section partitioned off for their bed. The toilet and very basic shower facility were in corrugated sheds in the back yard. An outside sink was used for washing clothes.

Erlene outsider her present home.

Returning With Music

In December 2014, I arrived in Barbados hoping that some had found a way out of poverty since my previous visits. People had grown older and the two amputees suffering from diabetes that I had photographed had died. Children had grown up and more children had been born. Eric Bailey had saved enough money from his previous job working on the roads to buy his own fishing boat. His brother Terence works in construction and has also built up a pack of Akita dogs through his own breeding plan. Each dog is vaccinated and in beautiful condition, but he says he cannot command the going price for them because of where he lives.

Erlene Downie is now 84 years old. She lives in a small wooden structure next to the homes of two of her daughters Ann and Hazel. Ann, who worked in Bridgetown for many years, including 13 years for Cave Sheppard, a large department store in town, proudly showed me a photograph of her granddaughter’s graduation – the first from the community to go to university, she is now studying for her master’s in law.

Ann’s husband Herbert is of mixed race, and of late there has been much more integration with the black population and there are many more mixed-race children. As attitudes towards matters of color, race, and class begin to change, those who don’t join the white middle class via better educational and job opportunities will, via mixed marriages, become absorbed into the black majority.

Eric Bailey saved enough money from his previous job working on the roads to buy his own fishing boat. He said he was slowing getting to do what he really wanted. When I first photographed him in 2000 he wanted to be a carpenter. He lives in his parents home along with his brother, 2 sisters and 6 children.

There was little change in circumstances from previous visits, but I was still welcomed with warm smiles and generous hugs. Though they liked my photographs, and I felt privileged that they allowed me in to their homes, I wanted to do more for these people I have come to know and respect. The opportunity came when I met musician Willie Kerr, an old friend, who for many years played with the very successful Merrymen band. Willie, who now lives and works in Barbados, helps to raise funds for disadvantaged and homeless in Bridgetown through The Love Day Project, an organization founded five years ago by musician Terry “Mexican” Arthur, a member of the band Square! (The exclamation point is part of the band’s name.)

Oriel Farnum and grandson Daniel.

Before and during Christmas that year, volunteers from Love Day set up tables, chairs, and food in Queens Park in Bridgetown and offered people breakfast, new clothes, haircuts, blood pressure checks, diabetes checks, and AIDS checks.

I suggested to Willie that they do something similar for the Irish descendants on the other side of the island. A plan was made and Willie, Terry, and fellow musician Lawrence Lorenzo Gittens duly turned up in St. Martin’s Bay armed with musical instruments, hampers, and Christmas gifts.

It was an important gesture that showed respect and appreciation for a forgotten people, and I was glad to have been able to share their story with others on the island, and elsewhere, and bring them back in the fold of the Irish diaspora.

Erlene Downie being helped back to her own house by daughters Hazel (on left) and Ann (on right) and serenaded by Willie Kerr of The Merrymen band so well known in Barbados for years. Ann is holding the hamper of food and Christmas present given to Erlene on Love Day by Terry Arthur. Terry started the Love Day charity 5 years ago visiting vagrants, homeless and sick but this is their first visit to the “poor white” community on the east coast.

One family all living in one small chattel house. From left Britney, Brent, their mother Carol, her mother and father Louise and Wilson Yearwood. The house is divided into a series of very small rooms and the shower and toilet are outside hidden behind the corrugated iron fencing.

Danny is Mona Bailey’s brother and he lives in the house next to her and her large family. He is related to the singer Rianna whose immediate family originated from the same district.

Erlene Downie and Betty Fenty, who is the great aunt of singer Rihanna.

Erlene’s sister Joyce.

George Highland Hickson with his breadfruit tree.

From left, Herbert and Ann Banfield, an American friend and grandchildren.

Brother and sister Monique and Terence Bailey enjoy a game of dominoes outside their home which they share with their parents, another brother and sister and 6 children.

Village Gossip: Two of Erlene Downie’s sisters stop for a chat.

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Sheena Jolley is one of Ireland’s celebrated wildlife photographers. In 2013 she was IPPA Winner Best Wildlife Portfolio.In 2009 and 2015 she was a finalist in the BBC Wildlife photographer of the Year Competition. She has had many solo exhibitions of her work but now concentrates on exhibiting in her own gallery in Schull, County Cork, as well as through her website. For more of Sheena Jolley’s work, visit www.sheenajolleyphotography.com.

Thank you so much for this article. I know a few of the people mentioned as I live in St Joseph. These people are very resilient no matter what life throws at them. I really do admire them and will continue to marvel at their resourcefulness. They may not have land or money but they are people with big hearts and have included me on a number of occasions as if I was one of them

Rhianna’s beauty is an example of what we have in Barbados when this melting pot of races are “stirred”. Her mother is from Guyana and probably has some Scottish, Amerindian and African blood. The Fenty name may have survived but there are Fentys that are quite dark skinned and as distant in family connection to Rhianna as anyone can be. She shares her wealth with Barbadians at ALL levels and complexions with the contributions she makes to health care in the island. Why on earth should she feel any more responsible for our Irish homesteading ancestors especially?

Rhianna’s ancestry is as much African as it is European – and perhaps only a small part of her racial origin might be Irish. She does not consider herself Irish, or Scottish or Dutch or Spanish or West African. The Caribbean is a melting pot of all of these peoples – Rhianna does not think of herself as Irish any more than an English woman would think of herself as Celtic or Gaelic or Norman or Anglo Saxon and feel responsible for the many atrocities of conquest, slavery, and forced miscegenation between these peoples. Rhianna’s only true identity is Barbadian, and she has contributed to many developmental projects for ALL Barbadians. The term “poor white” in Barbados is an unfortunate carryover from an age of predominant African slavery when it was used simply to distinguish between people in similar conditions. No exceptional suffering or insult is implied.

“Poor, pious, peaceful and polite” – that’s what Barbadians of every stripe might typically chirp in response to the interrogatory “how are you” !!!

Rihanna is always helping by keeping her name up high and supporting Barbados. Our community is currently getting better and we are helping each other learn and grow. Rihanna always represents Barbados and is one of my role models. This she is helping everyone without trying and without knowing.

I truly loved reading this story. Next March will be my 30th year vacationing on the island. I know that area of the island but not as well as the south and west side. Next year though it will be different that’s for sure.

This is a really interesting piece of history that I certainly never knew of. My fathers family are from Barbados and I have family members who still live there and have visited the country before, but no one has ever mentioned this very interesting past to me. The only mention was that there were lighter skinned people up there, but no explanation was given and I just assumed that it was black and white people mixing.

I would certainly be interested and knowing more about this and will share this this post to ensure that others are alerted to their plight. I am quite shocked that the Irish government / people does not do more to assist and support this group, but I assume that they either do not know or that they have no interest.

So glad this subject has been researched.Thankyou.My friend lives on Anguilla and has Irish background…..as have many Anguilla n’s. The facts re:the enslavement of Irish are not widely known, but there is a definite link with people from Caribbean and the Irish, even now there’s a ‘kin’ feeling ..

Really good to read about these people. I am from Bequia (an island an hundred miles West of Barbados) and am a decendant of some of these red legs who left Barbados perhaps in the late 1800s/early 1900s and set up home on Bequa. I am facinated by the red leg history and that you so much for writing and documenting their story.

They were worked to death or forced to interbreed with African slaves or their very masters so as to “lighten” the complexion of the enslaved workers. Any pure caucasians on Montserrat today are not descendants of the originally transplanted Irish Catholics . . . . their ancestors went there as free indentured workers from England, and married among themselves to keep their purity. Don’t forget that the Irish did not speak a language that even resembled English !! All traces of the Irish culture of that ethnic cleansing era (by the mid 17th Century) have been completely extinguished.

I am happy that this research was done in Barbados and it should continue. my great grandfather was Robert Shepherd a red leg from Bathsheba and the Parish of St. Joseph. He was from Scotland. it is good to see that these persons were not shy to be photographed and to tell their story.

Of course there are “young ones”. They have married into the community over the cours of dozens of generations and they would not be as “photo-worthy” perhaps to the researcher. Rhianna, the currently popular model / singer is a “young one”. She will marry and have a family with an afro american and you wouldn’t know who you’re sitting next to !!! Red legs are not mutants.

I did research on West Indians in Chicago in 1971. There was a Bishop Hinkson, I believe, at the African American Methodist Church–if I remember correctly. I think he was from Barbados. I met him through a Grenadian women by the name of Little–I think. She took me to church and served me toast, smoked chicken and a glass of home made fruit wine “Like my father used to make back in Grenda”, she said.

My name is Pablo Genty (pgenty26@gmail.com) and was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad of a Trinidadian father and a Venezuelan mother. I have lived most of my life in Venezuela and the US but lived the first fifteen years of my life mainly in San Fernando, Trinidad. There was a family from Barbados that lived diagonally opposite to us in Gordon Street, the Hinksons. There were Mr and Mrs Hinkson, then the children Ada, Patty, Harry, Timmy and Jean. Timmy was one of my best friends and I was wondering if any of those mentioned above are still around and can be contacted. I say this is because I am now 82 years old. Thanks a million.

i think that so much can be done to help. Any ideas? i think i can come up with many to help theses people who have suffered and been left there. ? Perhaps we can get a funding project together and campaign too. My family had nothing when we all came to Britain from Ireland, some recent ,but some after the famine, and i feel something has to be done. anyone agree????

I have researched a community of Barbadians in Grenada who are descendants of these same Irish, Scott and English slaves and indentures. The community in Grenada does not seem so desperate as those described in this report. The Mong Mong Bajans as they are called came from Barbados around 1850 as I recall. Gittens, Medford and Dowden are among the names found in the community.

In Grenada they are called Mt. Moritz Bajans after the community where they settled or Mong Mong, (derived I believe from the word Mount, pronounced locally without the final consonant). Similarly in St. Vincent they are known as Dorsetshire (pronounced locally Dorshter) Hill Bajans after the place where they lived.

All tawney skinned people in the British Caribbean can be considered to have ancestry in the “British Isles” or Portugal. If you are terribly in need of a name to call us, I would suggest “brown skinned” or “red skinned”. It doesn’t bother if it’s not used in an offensive context..

We do not need to change Redlegs as it refrs to how they looked after working in the sun, bush etc I am from Dublin but lived in he Caribban fr 30 years we were NOT taught about IRISH SLAVE TRADE at School Loreto Convnt. I learned about it in Trinidad In all of the Islands especially Montserrat evidence is obvious. MANY poor people of mixed race who say they are Irish! anybody with any obvious Black /caucasan mixture is always described as RED. Many articles from Barbadoes have Photos of descendants and their names. Many Caribban Pirates were also Irsh including Women.

Wow I can’t believe this article, so eye opening! I know quite a bit about my heritage but had never heard the term Redlegs.

My father is from St. Vincent.

My grandfather was a Dorshter Hill Bajan with the surname Murphy which certainly is Irish. His wife, my grandmother was indeed of Scottish decent maiden name Gibson and her grandparents were from Barbados.

Ireland is not in the British Isles, despite what any British map may have you believe. These Irish people have suffered enough, do not add to it by saying they are from the British Isles, the home of that murdering bastard Oliver Cromwell, who’s orders sent these slaves to Barbados

I TOTALLY AGREE I was delighted to SPIT on his “grave” in Westminster when I found myself on a tour. Whispered ROT IN HELL YOU Bastard. I Feell VERY Angry when OUR Country is included in the term British Isles. I have been disappointed at the way ppl in Ireland REJECT MY Strong Feelings of Hate and resentment NEVER FORGIVE HEM OR FORGET!! I believe but it seems I am in the minority Many Now SADLY WANT TO BE English HOW COULD THEY?

Hey ? i am on your page there;) i did also post a message above about funding/helping(no scam..just honesty) . I have thought something should be done for a while now. Get in touch?
Repeat of message i just posted.
also, see the message i posted above…in reply to Danne costello’s message
Let’s do something now?

I am researching the MEDFORD name. My GG GF William Alleyne Medford born in St Andrews Bdos 1851. I am at a loss to locate specifics on his parents James William Medford (born 1823) and Susan Pearne. You mentioned the Medford name- have you come across this family in your Barbados research?
Thank you.

Oliver Cromwell rounded up the children of Irish landowners when he removed the Irish to Connaught and settled his followers and soldiers on the vacated lands around the middle of the 17th C. He wanted to remove the gentry class who would have future claims on the land. I did research on the “Mong Mong Bajans” of Grenada who were “red legs” from Barbados. They have lived in an area called Mount Mortiz since the middle of the 1800s. They did not intermarry until the 1950’s. Many went to Australia when that country opened the doors in the 80’s (I believe). Only unmixed whites were accepted. I have not found very many Irish names among that group. Some say that they were involved in the Monmouth Rebellion. That would account for the English and Scottish names. I will get out my notes and add more information later. The book Story of an Irish Slave Girl gives some insights into the circumstances of these slaves and indentures from the British Isles.

I’ve read that book, have it in my every growing library on this subject. My Dad is from the Greaves, Medford, Searles, Chandlers of St. Andrew, Barbados, also called the Scotland District. We’ve always been told that our ancestors were from Scotland, not Ireland but who knows. I’ve found it interesting that the Mt. Moritz group has many of those same names.

Anne: From my research with the Folks at Mt. Moritz in Grenada I would say the most if not all have Scottish background. Bowden, Greaves, Medford, Harris, Carr. I think Searles. I can get a better list for you if you like.

Mr Gormley needs to refresh his take on Scottish history. Scottish families migrated to Ireland in large numbers both as a result of the government-sanctioned Plantation of Ulster, a planned process of colonization which took place under the auspices of James VI of Scotland and I of England on land confiscated from members of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland who fled Ulster and as part of a larger migration or unplanned wave of settlement.

Ulster Scots emigrated onward from Ireland in significant numbers to all corners of the then-worldwide British Empire—what are now Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, as well as the West Indies,and even South America. Scotch-Irish (or Scots-Irish) is a traditional term for Ulster Scots who emigrated to North America.

Anne, there are numerous Searles and Chandlers in Barbados. Today the majority will not resemble a person of Irish ethnicity. A much larger West African slave community will have been absorbed or simply adopted the names of the planter who “owned” them. Irish and Scotsmen that were transplanted also eventually became part of the slave owning planter class. A Searles was one of the first governors of the island – hardly therefore shipped out in chains as a victim of Cromwell’s extermination !!

I am truly shocked and saddened to read about the plight of these folks who have suffered poverty such a long period in the Caribbean. I also wonder about the responsibility of the Government of Barbados in this situation. Surely this is not something any country could be proud of. Perhaps this attention will force the powers that be over there to do the right thing finally.

many of the people in the photos i know,and quite a few of them are related to me ,Betty Fenty is my mother’s sister,i went to school with the Downies, they are also related to me,my grandfather and their grandfather were brothers, i live in venezuela i dont get to visit the island very often, i was last there for my mother’s 80th. birthday in March 2015

Stephen was your Grandfather Edward Fenty? Is so he was a dear friend of my Family in Georgetown, B.G. I used to meet him at my Uncle Eric and Aunt Laura Johnsons home every time he’d visit. I was just curious. The Corbin’s were friends as well, undertakers?
Have a good day!

Proud of my IRISH HISTORY but world should know thst Irish Slaves were in Barbados before the arrivals from Africa.They were deliberately bred with African Slaves to achieve fairer new Slaves for house duties etc

I am in shock. I knew that there were people of Irish and Scottish descent living in Barbados. However, I never knew that they lived in such horrible conditions. They are Barbadians!! where are their representation? How come the various governing bodies never looked into their plight. This is indeed a shame.

The book, to Hell or Barbados by Sean O Callaghan, researched at the Barbados Museum, gives a thorough insight in to the Redlegs. The book The Stolen Village, of Baltimore, West Cork, tells the true story of a whole village taken by the Barbary Pirates in the 1600 hundreds. Many people were taken as slaves from Ireland and Britain.

I would refer those persons who are interested in this subject to read
“To Hell or Barbados: The ethnic cleansing of Ireland” by Sean O’Callaghan. England achieved its dominance in the Caribbean and North America by a process of deliberate “planting” of people. The word “plantation” described this social engineering strategy, and only later to actual agricultural activity.
The Irish Catholic (usually supporters of the monarchy and so against Cromwell’s Republic) Irish were used as enslaved prisoners of the Monmouth Rebellion. Later in history whites were “invited” to the Caribbean by a system of apprenticeship known as indenture. No one teaches this dark aspect of history in schools.

I taught it as a part of West Indian History for years at 3 different secondary schools in Barbados. I’d be very disappointed to learn that an island wide change in recommended texts resulted in this aspect of our history being neglected. As my friend @Lee Farnum-Badley suggested, by far the greatest proportion of this exiled community has integrated into the wider Afro-ethnic Bajan community. Another higher IQ proportion moved easily into the ranks of the White planter-merchant class which have held on to their wealth and privilege over the years. This explains why the remnants of this community are so impoverished, since they have lost the more adventurous, intelligent, and resourceful members over the years. I could identify individuals with these names (redmen we used to call them,) living all over the island, not just in St Joseph: Allamby, Goddard, Fenty, Bailey, even Kings, are all VERY COMMON names throughout the island. 13 years of teaching, put me in intimate contact with literally THOUSANDS of names to which I can still place faces and ethnic features.

The integration of this isolated group gathered pace during the 50s when it was widely publicized that inbreeding had resulted in a very high death rate from various genetic disorders. Before the hospital began routinely amputating spurious digits and correcting cleft palates, I myself had noted that these congenital deformities were much more prevalent among people of fairer skin.

It is not widely known that many of the Appalachian “Mountain men” of the Carolinas arrived in the US from Barbados, to the extent that many of them have similar names to their Barbadian counterparts. Even the name ‘Red-neck” bares an ironic similarity to the term “Red-leg” which was once more current in Barbados.

Hey Louis. Having read about the conditions and treatment that transplanted Irish Catholics and Scottish rebels were subjected to in the early years of settlement, I have come to doubt that any of them left any trace of their origin – including their names. They were after all less valuable nominally and productivity-wise that African slaves and were sent here as punishment to die. An escapee would not even have survived long in a community that was hostile from all sides. The few “extant vintage Bajan redmen” are more likely to be the descendants not of Celtic origin but of Anglo-Saxon indentured servants and lesser adventurer-farmers that might have owned a few acres land but were eventually dispossessed by creditors and the more powerful estate-owner class. If they couldn’t transition into any artisan profession, they would have become very poor very quickly. Many went of to live in marginal lands like St.John and in less used neighbouring islands like St.Vincent. Farnum is one such, I’m pretty sure. People did what they could, and if it matters at all to have had their names survive – not like the names of of any my African blood relatives whose ancestry was ruthlessly obliterated by the Englishman’s economic designs on the colony. We shall all have the same name and aim someday.

Wow I never knew this!
I am a white quarter irish lady.
I feel a very strong spiritual connection with Barbados, I first visited 20 years ago,with a friend, then have been visiting since I met my partner nearly 9 years ago, who’s mum was born in Barbados,my partner has family living in christ church. I had to call my mum in England to tell her I was born in the wrong worthing,when we visited one time !!! as I was born in worthing sussex, England.
This last time I went, I noticed the name Cummins a couple of times, in names of roads and places, that is my last name and my grandad was Irish, just wondered if you have any information of the link of the Cummins name with Barbados? Thank you, Kate.

Hiya Kate
My comment is not very helpful to you but I am posting it for general information! There is a connection to the COMMINS in the East Indies (ile Maurice, reunion chagos etc) who probably came from Ireland too. Sometimes via England or France. maybe as poor white slaves and then of mixed race.

Found this article quite interesting reading. Clearly these people prefer to live among themselves. Did not know of them at all and I am in my 60’s. So sad to learn of their poor living conditions. Hope their Parliamentary representative can look into their situation and see what can be done for them.

The Brits are still plundering and destroying to this day. We in Scotland had our chance of freedom last year and we didn’t take it mainly due to the older generation who voted No through fear of the unknown. I feel heart sorry for these people and as a visitor to Barbados, did not know of their existence. I don’t believe for a second that these folk have chosen to live in this squalor, and yes, the government should have helped them out years ago.

I am a Barbadian. My ancestors are probably a mix of African, Welsh and Amerindian indentured or enslaved English “plantations” that make up the present populations of the islands. It is commonly believed that caucasians in the Americas are all descendant of slave owners, and should therefore be held accountable for “reparations” to Afro-Caribbean or Afro-American peoples. The writer of To Hell or Barbados provides some balance. Most history is sob stuff and we’ll surely all be a sob story some day too. Enjoying the wild life while we can is the best we can do isn’t it ? That”s our well earned right now that the sob stuff is out of the way !!

WOW!!! What a huge, giant, massive, colossal ASSHOLE you must be. Ugh, thank GOD none of us has to actually KNOW you or God forbid, socialize/work with your ugly ass personality and evil spirit. This is actually a warm and beautiful story. The comments and interactions, questions related to place names and people, reaching out to each other and supporting each other took my breath away and renewed my faith in human beings and then along comes you. Brought me right back to why we have war and murder – the spirit of enmity. What a total fuck-up you are! Go and take a vow of silence for the love of God and leave us in peace.

Your stock sent my 8x great grandfather to Barbados in 1650-51. I’m glad you did, as he came to America in 1662 after marrying a girl named Cicely Cullimore. Our family has prospered in this great country and the English actions did me a favor, it got us the hell out of Scotland… it does pain me to see those who stayed behind, never leaving Barbados for America…

My Grandfather on my fathers side was born and grew up in Barbados his parents my great grand parents came to Barbados from England, I grew up spending time in Barbados every year as a child and young adult, and still have family there, Barbados is in my opinion one of if not the most beautiful island I have traveled to, but I am shocked to learn, about these unfortunate beautiful people, I hope I get maybe one more opportunity to visit Barbados again, and make their acquaintance.

When I was a child we lived in St. John and my mum used to collect clothing for the folk who lived “below the hill”
as it was termed then. My Dad was Parochial Treasurer for St.
John and one of his functions was as “Poor Law Guardian” to
decide who needed help to survive. They would come to his office
to receive a weekly stipend. This was nothing to do with the Old
Age Pension which continues to this day. I am not sure about the other
assistance to those in dire straits. Will have to check on this, I now live in Florida USA. Thanks Sheena for the exposure and Willie et al for your great kindness…

I found this article fascinating. As a historian and teacher of Caribbean history more particularly that of Guyana where I lived and taught for 18 years, I knew that there had been lots of poor free white settlers on the islands during the early colonisation, but I just assumed they had by now all integrated by intermarriage with other ethnic groups on the islands after slavery ended.

Look up The IRISH SLAVE TRADE and you will see that Irish Slaves were most Numerous group of slaves BEFORE the Arrival of the First Africans They were bred together to provide lighter skinned Sex Workers and domestics, Their Mistreatment was as Harsh as any meted out to Sfrican slaves later

A few years ago I came across a documentary “Scotland Barbados sugar slaves” and the residents in the story are the same ones. I wonder if the residents were aware that their pictures and sad circumstances were going to be shown all over the world, some of it I am pretty sure is nothing short of pure exploitation. My husband is originally from New castle and some of what is written is way off base, I know of four people who went on to University, three of them won island scolarships and went on to make a success in their career path, also not all the folks lives in shacks with unspeakable sanitary conditions, some of them wanted a better life for themselves and their families so they worked hard to make a living, employers who owned the big stores on Broad street preferred them over over hiring black employees, as a matter of fact it was the norm to have a mother, father, aunts, uncles and cousins all working at the same store. Yes some of them are living under dire circumstances having fell through the cracks through no fault of their own, on the other hand some of them who lacked the basic tools when it came to education, figured that their colour was the key to opening doors for them so they decided to wait for their ship to come in the rum shop.

Judy, on thinking back to my years of living on Grenada, St Vincent and Barbados, most of what you said is true. Yes, the ‘poor whites’ as they were called were scorned by the island blacks, however they were not all living in squalor. Especially in Barbados where tertiary education was free, many of them went to college and earned their degrees, thus enabling a better life for their families. By showcasing the poverty, the writer of the article showed bias.
It’s like the journalists who came to Montserrat to cover our active volcano in the mid-1990’s. They declared to the world that this island was abandoned. Yes, half the population fled because half our island was destroyed, however the surviving half is built up and people are living well.
I wish the writer had opened the windows, let the sun in and let us see the truth about these Irish (and Scottish) descendants. In other words, give us the good news. Sadly, only the negative sells papers.

Yes, I agree with you both that this article is quite bias. There is no doubt that the redlegs…or Ecky Beckies (as we from Martin’s call them) live in poor and sometimes unsanitary conditions but the fact of the matter is many peopls from that region live the same… They are no worse off because of their colour. Addituonally, I personally know of Ecky Beckies who went to private school with me…just like .my black family could pull itself up and out of poverty so did they. These days there are no limitations except those you place on yourself. When I was a young girl the Ecky Beckies were different..they were poor..they weren’t educated and they were swarthy…now after returning to my island home I wouldnt recognise a poor white from a Goddard or a Sheppard. So, I do thank you for the article but the bias left a bad taste.

Hello there Susan Wolfe or anyone else who might help me. I am trying to trace the family of a Dorothy Goddard of My Lord’s Hill, St Michael? Barbados, her daughter Violet and her Great Grand daughter Maureen for her Grandson Winston F.Hoyte who now lives in England. We are trying to find out more about the GODDARDS and HOYTES of Barbados. You mentioned the GODDARDS. Do you know if any of them were of Irish origin or did you just mention them as being typical Afro Carribeans? Especially do you know of a Belfield, a Leonard or a Stephen HOYTE. The family emigrated from Barbados in 1950s to England but some of the Goddard and Hoyte family remained (and maybe) remains in Barbados. Please email me if you can add any information. Photos of My Lord’s Hill would be interesting. Also see the Hoyte Genealogy page on Facebook
Thanks
Pauline
PS Hiya Kate
My comment is not very helpful to you but I am posting it for general information! There is a connection to the COMMINS in the East Indies (ile Maurice, reunion chagos etc) who probably came from Ireland too. Sometimes via England or France. maybe as poor white slaves and then of mixed race. Pauline

Hi Susan Wolfe, I am wondering if you can help me as I am trying to find out more about The GODDARDS (and HOYTES) of Barbados. You mentioned the Goddards …was that because they have Irish/Bajan history in Barbados? or is it a random surname you used? I am seeking to find out family related to Dorothy (Marby) Goddard of my Lord’s Hill, Bridgetown, her daughter Violet, her Grand daughter Maureen for her Grandson Winston F. Hoyte. If you or anyone else reading can connect me up to the family or know anything that might be helpful we would be so glad. Even photos of my Lord’s Hill or vicinity would be of interest. They may have been Methodists. Winston lives in England and has nobody in Barbados that he knows of. But his Grandfather BELFIELD HOYTE or Uncles LEONARD or STEPHEN Hoyte may still live in Barbados. Please help. Visit Hoyte Genealogy group on Facebook to find out more. Thanks pauline
pS Hiya Kate
My comment is not very helpful to you but I am posting it for general information! There is a connection to the COMMINS in the East Indies (ile Maurice, reunion chagos etc) who probably came from Ireland too. Sometimes via England or France. maybe as poor white slaves and then of mixed race. Pauline

Most people whether Irish/Scottish, Amerindian or African descendants live quite contentedly with each other and with their lot – until someone comes along to make them feel some nonexistent entitlement. There is no urban squalor to contend with – certainly not in the beautiful parish of St. John. No one in the photographs considers himself or herself underprivileged or entitled to more than the rest of the population. They have all of the comforts of technology and development infrastructure that you would expect in a typical mixed race neighbourhood in modern Barbados. The photographers don’t show these trappings, because their objective is to highlight anachronism. Poor white have largely miscegenated with the larger afro-caribbean community and the few families that have married their own exclusively for too many generations suffer from genetic conditions caused by inbreeding – but by and large their “stock” has outlived the cruelties and re-stocking of expendable chattel slave workers for 400 years!

Loved this article. I live on Montserrat, one of the Leeward Islands, where many of our villages have Irish names, as well as many of the population. Our phone book is filled with the names O’Garro, Sweeney, Galloway, Cassell, Tuitt and Ryan among others. St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday here and the island celebrates it with a week of activities. Our national colours are those of Ireland – green, orange and white. I am related through the Ryan connection. The difference between us and Barbados is, we don’t have any impoverished Irish!

As to making a Movie about it! Somebody SHOULD The Worl NEEDS to KNOW about the BRUTAL Acts of the English to the IRISH Nation and others. People DO NOT BELIEVE me when I tell them about it Hopefully one day

Eye opening history. As a child and over the years I visited Barbados to see family that remained in Barbados. I never knew the origins of the
The people of St. Andrews parish. It is now 2016 and help should be forth coming to improve the lives of all the survivors of the transatlantic slavetrade.

Apply to the Crown for reparations. But the planters in the Caribbean were indemnified handsomely by the Crown when they were required to free their slaves in 1860. The emancipated African slaves received no compensation and went back to work on the plantations for meager wages. Since the ratio of whites to african peoples on an estate was critical for plantation owners to feel secure the “tawny” mixed race people were given the “better” jobs and the closer more fertile pieces of land so as to retain them. Most Irish descendants in Barbados that are poor have chosen to stay comfortable ignoring all educational opportunities and occupational diversification. The few exceptions are the champions of industry in the island today: families like Simpson, Goddard, Williams . . . . . Time to visit Barbados again. Toni !!

Both. Following the War of the Three Kingdoms both the vanquished Irish and Scottish survivors were persecuted and expelled. Then under Cromwell’s Puritan Protectorate many ordinary civilian men and women were dispossessed because of their religious adherence (to Roman Catholicism) or simply for being vagrants.

I am from Barbados. The Butlers came here in 1600’s, some have died out but it appears the majority have left . There are less than 100 here now with that surname who are Barbadian. There are a few from other places

The Butlers were one of the most powerful Norman-English families in Ireland from the 13th century on. Their castle is in good shape in Kilkenny. I was not aware that the Butlers were deported to Barbados by Cromwell. They might have gone out earlier I suppose when Queen Elizabeth implanted Leix. I am interested in all the Irish surnames that are found in Barbados among this group.

There are not many Irish names in Barbados that survived the period of ethnic cleansing almost 350 years ago. The enslaved and exiled “plantations” of Irish and Scottish peoples were not expected to survive the cruelties they endured – much less thrive – and by and large they didn’t. Irish names in Barbados today arrived there with much later emigrations perhaps even as voluntary indentured workers,as skilled craftsmen, in trading or shipping or even as fortune seekers in slave owning sugar cultivation themselves. The majority of Irish family names in Barbados today belong to a new generation of settlers and are in technology and in professional services.

They are many more desendents of Irish slaves that are not poor and have moved away from Barbados or live in wall houses that are not shown in this article.
We all do not look like these people shown here..
See here for the groosum details of the Irish slaves that were in Barbados before any black slaves were on the island..

I would like to find out information about where in Ireland the Power family lived in Ireland.My father a descendant of Irish an d African heritage left Barbados in the 30’s.We still have many Powers still residing in Barbados.If you have any information on how to connect these dots I would appreciate it.I know the British kept records of every one.kathleen

My mother is Irish. We have lived in Barbados for nearly 50 years. As part of my History degree, at UWI Cavehill, my thesis was on the Irish in Barbados during the 17th century. There are quite a few Irish living in Barbados now.

Yes, this might be so but only because of more recent “attractions” to the island. Perhaps with your roots and interest in the humanities you will be in a position to bring a greater consciousness about slavery. Many afro-caribbean people in the region today feel that their ancestors were the only victims of transplantation and forced labour.

I live in USA and from doing ancestry DNA I am finding out I have 3rd cousins from Barbados some of the last names are Mayers , Wilkie & Norris I would love to hear more about my family and figure out how I fit in. If anyone knows these last names please contact me. Bguysmom@aol.com

Oliver Cromwell rounded up the children of the Irish clan elites, killed them and sent their children off to Barbados so those with historic claims to Irish land would be removed. This would have been after about 1650. The descendants of these Irish would have been disconnected from their history, roots and religion. It would be unlikely if any of this history got passed down orally from that long ago. It would be very interesting to know if I am wrong about this. Maher is a big name among the Irish disposed today (travelers). I would guess that the Irish Mayers of Barbados were of the same origins as the dispossessed in Ireland and that the name was Anglicized.

Thanks for this article. It’s quite interesting. I’m a black British-Barbadian who has lived in Barbados my whole life and only really found out about the history of the Rednecks in the last few years. Honestly it seems so strange to me that the heritage of Rednecks is known as poor whites. How can all or most of them really be? Barbados’ history of racism during slavery and colonialism has always provided more oppurtunities to persons of lighter complexions. Sure the English and European whites may have had more opportunities and better socio-economic treatment than the Irish descendants but surely the Irish descendants had more oppurtunities and socia-economic advantages over the blacks. They also would have had a better head start to better their lives. Even today, a white or light-skinned person has better access to jobs than a black despite the black population being hugely larger. And generally speaking Barbados has pretty good health care and low poverty rates compared to many Caribbean islands and 3rd world countries. And even so I’m sure there are many more poor blacks living in such conditions and suffering from many diseases. So how does this happen that a small sub-set of light-skinned persons have not been able to work together to achieve greater progress in their socio-economic mobility where many black Barbadians (who have a slavery/colonial-influenced culture that leads them to be less likely to work together and trust each) have changed their living and working conditions greatly? Plus education in Barbados is free. Health care is free. Are they still being prejudiced against more so than blacks?

I would say that the greater majority of the descendants of Irish and Scottish forced labourers found ways to improve themselves by becoming integrated in one sector of the economy or another (trade or sugar cultivation). Those that have come to be known as “redlegs” have isolated themselves in their cliques, traditionally eschewing intermarriage, and even avoiding the educational opportunities that are there in Barbados for everyone . . . because of their own predjudice towards Afro-caribbean peoples. There is little that can be done to help them now. They distinguishing physiological features will disappear in less than two generations, but it will be unfortunate that we have not recognized their contribution to the building of Barbados’ identity. Thanks largely to them we now all have COLLOURED LEGS !!

A lot of these ppl just stay away from other people. I too have Redlegs in me, most of us do. Health care was always free and they had access to everything the island has to offer. They are happy as they are.

1636 was during the reign of Charies l and before Cromwell. Drogheda was in 1649–the beginning of his devastation and removal of the old Irish from their lands. I wonder what the cause of that effort was. Of course they needed labor in Barbados. I wonder if they just rounded up folks off the streets.

What about the Banfield family that came in from Trinidad? They later came here and one of their daughters married a black man that allegedly was from San Fernando. They banished her to an old one-roof chattel house with a mud floor and allegedly cursed her line of family. I am one of them,. I was told that they do have businesses here but I have never met any of them though their names are kind of popular in the business community. My eldest sister contacted them but was told that they want nothing to do with us!

Very interesting article! Joseph Goddard – who started Goddard Enterprises Ltd which is now a multi-million dollar conglomerate spread across the Caribbean, South and Central America – was a ‘Redleg’ from St. John. He was a speculator and opened a grocery store in Bridgetown before purchasing Harrison’s on Broad Street and acquiring several local businesses.

So, not all of them remained poor. The BBC also produced a film in the 80’s called ‘The Redlegs of Barbados’. Which was researched and written by the late Peter Simmons – former Barbados Ambassador to the UK.

Can anyone say if the name Hargreaves is irish or Scottish. I am a Trinidadian now living in Barbados. i was told my Great grand father was from Barbados but, the only Hargreaves i have encountered since i am here are English. My deceased father’s complexion could be considered “redleg’ or as they were called in Trinidad “baccra johnie’.
This article was enlightening although it appears to be a bit biased.

I’m fascinated by the history I’ve read hear. I had no clue. And I’ve been to Barbados twice. My mother was from Barbados my maiden was holder. I’m interested in family names of holder, Paris and rock. My great great grandmother married a rock. Her name was Catherine rock. Had 9 children some moved to Trinidad. The rest stayed in Barbados. Married Paris and then holder. I’m married to perkins also from Barbados.

I was never taught any of this in school. You never hear anything about it in the mainstream media. The fact that there were white slaves from Ireland sent to Barbados and other Caribbean islands by Oliver Cromwell, and that some of their ancestors still live there today in poverty. I am going to definitely read and research more about this. I find it fascinating. A lot of “hidden history” is that way.

How history is influenced by politics, religion and demagoguery!! All societies have had their dark eras usually in reaction to some perceived threat. This episode of British history was shameful, but it was short-lived and pales in horror compared with almost three centuries of African slavery in the Caribbean which was motivated by capitalist greed.

The Power family in Barbados had several children some who remained on the island and others who left in the 30’s and earlier.I would like to connect with those who still have a connection to Barbados and Ireland.